PoliDebater wins Rep. Troy Nehls’ 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 22nd District.
Rep. Troy Nehls has named Samuel Xie of Seven Lakes High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 22nd District. Their app PoliDebater allows the user to engage in political debate with an impartial large language model (AI).
When asked what inspired the creation of PoliDebater, Samuel Xie said, “I was inspired to create PoliDebater after noticing how difficult it was to create meaningful political and civic discussions, both online and in person. Many debates today are often focused on ‘gotchas,’ and lack structure and depth for true productive conversation. As a student interested in both tech and civic discourse, I wanted to build a space where people can think practically and critically about complex issues affecting American everyday life. PoliDebater accomplishes this by combining AI and debate education to help users gain communication skills, political awareness, and argumentative structure in their viewpoints.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.